Replaced my throttle body heater last year. its leaking again got it form atlantic british. Any alternatives on the gasket which I think is the weak spotted what about some kind of thread lock on the bolts?
Thanks,
Eric
Thanks,
Eric
Throttle Body Heater Leak
- Thread starter mastercamper
- Start date
You know its there for a reason right? You do know what it's reason for existing is? I don't need that kind of excitement in my life.
Yeah in TX that kind of excitement doesn't happen but one day out of the year..... If you're in a warm climate bypass the SOB.
opcorn:
opcorn:
Yea they'll go for six months no problem. I tried pretty much everything and mine always eventually started leaking again so, in the end, I reluctantly bypassed it - end of story.
FWIW as a pilot and aircraft mechanic I've dealt with a very real phenomenon known as carburetor ice and all piston driven light aircraft have a control knob labeled " carb heat" that redirects the intake air source from a shroud around the muffler to provide warm air and prevent this phenomenon that can occur even on very warm, humid days. This however is caused by the carburetor venturi, the Disco's throttle body is not a venturi, it's just a straight pipe with a plate. In fact, aircraft with fuel injection and the same type of throttle as the Disco do not have a carb heat control. The Discos throttle body heater is part of its extreme cold climate system, the same reason the cooling system in general is what might be considered unnecessarily complicated - to quickly provide cabin heat after a cold start. The other thing about the Disco's cooling system is that it operates at a higher pressure than most and I think that's probably why that tiny little throttle heater plate is prone to leaking so much. That and the fact that it's a square plate mounted with only three screws.
So I haven't figured out the proper solution but since I live in California I haven't really persued it much. If I lived in Montana I'd probably just have a couple of throttle body heater plates on the shelf, maybe even a spare throttle body with fresh heater plate ready to drop in at the hint of a leak or even on a timed schedule. Kind of like a timing belt, just has to be renewed on a regular basis.
FWIW as a pilot and aircraft mechanic I've dealt with a very real phenomenon known as carburetor ice and all piston driven light aircraft have a control knob labeled " carb heat" that redirects the intake air source from a shroud around the muffler to provide warm air and prevent this phenomenon that can occur even on very warm, humid days. This however is caused by the carburetor venturi, the Disco's throttle body is not a venturi, it's just a straight pipe with a plate. In fact, aircraft with fuel injection and the same type of throttle as the Disco do not have a carb heat control. The Discos throttle body heater is part of its extreme cold climate system, the same reason the cooling system in general is what might be considered unnecessarily complicated - to quickly provide cabin heat after a cold start. The other thing about the Disco's cooling system is that it operates at a higher pressure than most and I think that's probably why that tiny little throttle heater plate is prone to leaking so much. That and the fact that it's a square plate mounted with only three screws.
So I haven't figured out the proper solution but since I live in California I haven't really persued it much. If I lived in Montana I'd probably just have a couple of throttle body heater plates on the shelf, maybe even a spare throttle body with fresh heater plate ready to drop in at the hint of a leak or even on a timed schedule. Kind of like a timing belt, just has to be renewed on a regular basis.
Well I live in East Tennessee not the great white north. Winters are mild at best. If its cold enough to freeze parts under the hood I'm staying home. I may try the RTV.
Thanks
Thanks
In all the years Ive drove Ive never had or heard of one freezing. None of my other cars or trucks have that heater.
What Jimmiejamz said. Think of wind chill, not ambient temps.
I've opted to spend a little time at the bridgeport today. I quickly hogged out a billet de-icer replacement. I'll use brass 1/8 npt - smooth barb for the hose fittings. My thought is the oem is just too flimsy and subject to warping especially with only one screw at the inlet/outlet end. I pulled my upper plenum to replace the spark plug wires and noticed mine was leaking after replacing the gasket only 2 months ago. I have a new one but want to see if this fabbed piece holds better.
I've opted to spend a little time at the bridgeport today. I quickly hogged out a billet de-icer replacement. I'll use brass 1/8 npt - smooth barb for the hose fittings. My thought is the oem is just too flimsy and subject to warping especially with only one screw at the inlet/outlet end. I pulled my upper plenum to replace the spark plug wires and noticed mine was leaking after replacing the gasket only 2 months ago. I have a new one but want to see if this fabbed piece holds better.
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And every time this comes up I tell people I have had it happen.
There, you heard of it.
It doesn't take cold to make it freeze. After I by-passed mine I had it happen enough that I put it back to stock.
I don't know of to many cars that don't have coolant heating the throttle. They just don't have shitty little plates that leak.
When Disco2 started selling we didn't have the throttle heater kit yet. Had to replace a bunch of throttles. A guy I worked with used some 3M epoxy. Land Rover didn't like it so it only got done to about 4 or 5 trucks, but I bet those trucks stayed fixed.
Have you noticed that some of the '04 Discos have a thicker metal type gasket and they never leak?
Well AB and the other suppliers keep selling us the same old kits that don't solve the problem but my brother has an '04 and I don't think his has ever leaked so there must be a permanent solution out there somewhere. When I bypassed mine I just ran a 5/16 inch hose from the manifold nipple right to the expansion tank so un-doing the bypass and hooking it back up would be very simple IF I were to find that solution.
The underlying issue is that it's a sneaky little leak that usually doesn't result in any visible drips on the driveway and if you are not constantly keeping an eye on your coolant level (which you should be doing anyway) we already know that the temp gauge isn't going to tell you anything until it's too late. And we also know that the worst thing you can do to your Disco is let it overheat.
The underlying issue is that it's a sneaky little leak that usually doesn't result in any visible drips on the driveway and if you are not constantly keeping an eye on your coolant level (which you should be doing anyway) we already know that the temp gauge isn't going to tell you anything until it's too late. And we also know that the worst thing you can do to your Disco is let it overheat.
ptschram
Well-known member
You have eclipsed even me in my pedantic method of repairing things.
Even I haven't milled a billet plenum deicer.
Intake icing can occur at ambient temps if the humidity/dew point/temperature/air flow are just right. Any pilot or A&P knows about this topic.
As for the fix, I've found tht draw-filing the bottom of the throttle body true goes a LONG way to resolving this problem. I don't know if they warp when they go through heat/cool cycles or if they are poorly machined from the beginning, but I've found some that are well out of true.
Falcon works makes a replacement throttle body heater plate that would take care of the warping issues. http://www.jewellamberoil.com/sales/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_67&products_id=303